We have Muslims oppressing Christians in central Africa and Mesopotamia. We have Muslims opposed to Jews in Gaza. We have a conflict borne out of an Islamic schism (Sunnis/Shiites) in the Middle East. We have Muslims religiously vituperating and murdering Yazidis in Kurdistan. We have also had a major clash between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland; the unspeakable Jewish pogrom that was the Holocaust; Hindus versus Muslims in post-colonial India and neighbouring Pakistan; and a Buddhist-Muslim tussle in Asia, too. It shouldn’t take a genius to realise that religion is a recipe for disaster.

The Church protects paedophiles from the law and provides them with opportunities to further molest children after the fact all in the name of letting them make things right. Islam is the perfect trump card for paedophilia - what a great example prophet Muhammad sets for his followers! A great number of Hindus support sati: where widows are burned alive on the deceased partner’s funeral pyre. And then we have “honour killings” carried out by some (usually devout) religious families. Muslims are not the only ones but they are certainly the worst. The frequency of Muslim conflict and terrorisation today, compared to the rest of the pietism, is enough to logically tag Islam as one of the worst religious ideologies in the world. Worse still, those of us who see this are not allowed to say, “Guys, it’s not working, just scrap it.”

Du’a Khalil Aswad, killed by her philistine family for going out with a Muslim, was an Iraqi Kurd of the Yazidi faith. The hypocritical Islamic State then used the story as an excuse to massacre Kurds in Mosul. Not every Yazidi supports honour killings but they are generally reticent about mixing with people of other creeds. To Muslims (who closely follow the Quran), all non-Muslims are infidels and if you are thinking about joining Islam just be warned that the price of apostasy is death. The bones Muslims have to pick with Yazidis go beyond the “infidel” label but the overall assessment is still under the influence of Quranic scripture and the tenets of Islam.

Yazidis, who precede Islam in time and in the Persian area, have notions of light and dark representing good and evil derived from ancient Mesopotamian creeds such as Mithraism and Mazdaism. Due to the nature of Islam, Yazidis were bound to be persecuted by Muslims. Even the Ba’athist government of Saddam Hussein would torment them along with the other Kurds who were either more secularly inclined or adhering to the Marxist-Leninist doctrine. The Salafist militant group of the Islamic State, who seeks to establish a vast Muslim empire and the old Caliphate, see Yazidis as devil-worshippers due to a coincidence between their chief angel Melek Taus’s other name and the Quranic name for Satan. (Melek Taus, the peacock angel who is part of their deistic god’s posse of divine beings known as the Heptad, is also known as Shaytan.)

During the Iraq War, Yazidis were constantly looking over their shoulders for suicide bombers and what happened in Qahtaniya at the time just shows that their paranoia was justified. (So much for the stupid word “Islamophobia.”) Again, like in Gaza, Africa, and Ireland, we see two monotheisms in internecine opposition. Time and again religion fails to work out its differences and the pious, who don’t understand the meaning of humanism, appear incapable of behaving in civilised society. I only urge politicians to ask themselves why democracy works in some nations but not others. I urge them to look to the more secular countries, with an interest in science and a growing population of atheists, such as Sweden and the Netherlands, where crime is lower and there is no significant conflict.

If only Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Yazidis focused on humanistic values and balanced altruistic ways. If only all the religious factions focused on what they have in common with one another: Muslims and Yazidis pray five times a day; Muslims and Jews dislike pigs (I’ve just had a delicious pork roast dinner and can’t help but think that those people don’t know what they are missing); Muslims and Christians consider Jesus Christ to be a divine emissary (albeit in different ways).

The problem with Islam is that it comes with Sharia Law and gets too politically involved. Every Muslim holds the concept of jihad (holy war) in their hearts to different degrees. How can Muslims call the United States of America “the Great Satan” when American soldiers saved their lives in Bosnia, during the Balkans War, by foiling the Serbian army in their ethnic cleansing attempt? Americans may now feel a humanitarian responsibility to Kurdistan, and may be partly guilty for having supported the Ba’athist regime in its heyday via the CIA as well as having more recently trained ISIS members in Jordan - but they are certainly the lesser of current evils. Foreign policy changes and mistakes are often made - something that the US government may want to address and tackle in their constitution.

What appears to be of utmost urgency now is the situation in the Middle East. Thousands of Yazidis have been besieged by Islamists in the mountains near Sinjar and the world is watching. Western powers such as America and Britain are being pressed to act. If the White House decided to bomb Northern Iraq in order to destroy the enemy’s artillery, it is only a response to a call for help and a step in precluding genocide. Places like Irbil and Qaraqosh are in the line of fire and in dire need of help. Refugees need to stop praying and focus their energies on fighting back and restoring the country before there is nothing left to run. Iraq needs a secular, truly democratic government. Not an Islamic one where Sharia is imposed on everyone.

Hasni Abidi, an Arabic Affairs expert in Paris, tells us that ISIS is the Islamic State successor in the Levant and Iraq which was created in 2006 by al-Qaeda. When asked about their funding, Abidi said that some of the Islamic State militants’ weapons were recovered from previous wars and millions of dollars were obtained from a bank robbery in Mosul. ISIS also took advantage of the bordering countries, like Syria, to attract support for jihad. Abidi also points out that American intervention was late (Obama never wanted to be a war president) and that Baghdad is using the precarious Iraqi Christian situation to obtain international aid. (Governments like this one, and Nigeria’s with their Boko Haram problem, are often fond of prolonging crises in order to revel in privileged international affairs.) For me, the most moving plea for humanitarian aid came from Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi Parliament. The woman was in tears as she gave a very emotional speech highlighting the fact that her people, creed and ancient cultural values were being extirpated by Islamists. Dakhil pointed out that Yazidis were being told to “convert to Islam or die” and her cry for help resonated throughout the parliamentary hall before she collapsed.

Today, on C-Span, Marc Ginsberg (former ambassador to Morocco and once a Mideast advisor to Jimmy Carter) recalled with great clarity the American mistake that was made during the Syrian civil war which appears to repeat itself in Iraq. Redolently, Ginsberg related how Hilary Clinton and the then Defence Secretary Bob Gates had urged President Obama to provide military assistance to the more secular Syrian army - a move that would have received great support from a moderate, non-Islamist oriented organisation. The White House overruled the idea just as the former First Lady was on her way to Istanbul to attend a “friends of Syria” where international aid ensured.

My solution is very simple: the sooner we rid ourselves of religion, starting with Islam, the better off we’ll be. We will then be able to focus on the things that matter most and the world will gain an unprecedented enlightenment and a clarity of thought once superstition is dead.

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Goldkoron. We need more education and more progress in science. I feel too many areas of the globe are still living in the Middle Ages and passing their memes on to the next generation. That is bad for politics and bad for scientific progress.

Freedom of religious expression should be allowed, of course, but like nesgirl said, as long as it's not harmful. Parents shouldn't label their kids "Muslim," "Christian," or "Jew" either because they are simply not old enough to understand what those tags entail and imply. It is a premature affair.

Best of luck to the Yazidis and the Kurds in general in fighting against pious zealots and idiots terrorising people in the name of some imaginary being. I hope they get as much support from the Americans as they can against the hideous totalitarianism that is Islam. Islamists have waged war against Western countries like Britain and the USA ages ago (announced shortly after Independence Day). In fact, they waged a war against the rest of the world when they decided religiously follow what is mandated by the Quran. Tribalism and discrimination with an Islamic face.

[ Post made via Android ]

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

The Iraqi ambassador to the UK wants the British to bomb Iraq against the Islamic State. He says Americans are not doing enough to help. Several people were massacred in a Sunni mosque by Shiites.

The US Government says it won't cooperate with president Assad of Syria even though he is also opposed to the Islamic State. Americans deem Assad to be a genocidal maniac.

[ Post made via Android ]

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

Religious people may criticise that quote by labelling it a crude innuendo but, whether they like it or not, it rings true. They have a tendency to proselytise and to assume that the unbeliever is a lost soul in need of "saving." Their chieftains are often found to be child molesters and criminals of other sorts. Their authorities, who claim to be divine emissaries, protect unrepentant monsters prone to reoffending.

[ Post made via Android ]

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

Summerlander wrote:Religious people may criticise that quote by labelling it a crude innuendo but, whether they like it or not, it rings true. They have a tendency to proselytise and to assume that the unbeliever is a lost soul in need of "saving." Their chieftains are often found to be child molesters and criminals of other sorts. Their authorities, who claim to be divine emissaries, protect unrepentant monsters prone to reoffending.

[ Post made via Android ]

LOL!

My solution is very simple: the sooner we rid ourselves of religion, starting with Islam, the better off we’ll be. We will then be able to focus on the things that matter most and the world will gain an unprecedented enlightenment and a clarity of thought once superstition is dead.

Yazidis, who precede Islam in time and in the Persian area, have notions of light and dark representing good and evil derived from ancient Mesopotamian creeds such as Mithraism and Mazdaism. Due to the nature of Islam, Yazidis were bound to be persecuted by Muslims. Even the Ba’athist government of Saddam Hussein would torment them along with the other Kurds who were either more secularly inclined or adhering to the Marxist-Leninist doctrine. The Salafist militant group of the Islamic State, who seeks to establish a vast Muslim empire and the old Caliphate, see Yazidis as devil-worshippers due to a coincidence between their chief angel Melek Taus’s other name and the Quranic name for Satan. (Melek Taus, the peacock angel who is part of their deistic god’s posse of divine beings known as the Heptad, is also known as Shaytan.)

Yazidism was founded in the 12th century, Persia(AKA Iran) had long been Moslem. Mesopotamia (AKA Iraq) is the the place of orgin for Mazdaism - that was Persia. Mithraism, though using the gods of Iran, was entirely a mystery cult of the Roman empire and was long dead when Yazidism was founded, having no possible influence on Yazidism.

The Nazi holocaust and Saddam's murder of Kurds were entirely secular actions of terrorism based in nationalism not religion - agrues secularism being all conflict free and this is without talking about the worst examples of Atheistic terrorism done by . Ideologist are even worse than the religious moralists.

"There is only one God and his name is Death.And there is only one thing we say to death "not today"- Syrio Forel

Mazdaism precedes Islam by one century and it did influence Yazidism which originally, I grant you that much, started out as a Sufi order. Also, the apparent "death" of a religion does not mean that it cannot be rediscovered and revived even if it is in a different form. Elements of Mithraism can be found in Yazidism. Anyway, whichever came first is besides the point. They are still religion, they are both wrong, and Islamists have no excuse to commit genocide.

Now, as for Saddam Hussein being secular? No chance. He was an advocate of Sunni Islam, and, if you doubt this, just listen to his last words about Allah's justice before his execution. As for the Ba'athist Party, it subscribed to another doctrine: socialism. The same can be said about Stalin, who was indeed an atheist but he did not subdue the masses in the name of atheism. Stalin did it in the name of his twisted Marxism and still allowed the Russian Orthodox Church to remain active and keep the people servile just like they were during the Czarist regime. (The Czar himself was considered to be a demigod.)

Stalin, who influenced Saddam Hussein, by the way, was the "superman" of Russia, to be revered by everyone. He was always right and knew what was best for his "children." So much so that they had to grovel to live. Pseudoscience was employed for his political ends and taught at schools for the purpose of brainwashing. Stalin even appointed Lysenko as director of the Institute of Genetics of the Soviet Union, who caused incalculable damage to Soviet agriculture.

If you don't know Lysenko, he was a second-rate plant breeder who opposed Darwinism, Mendelianism, and subscribed to the fallacious Lamarckism.

Like I said initially, we need Enlightenment and secularism. Saddam Hussein is not an example of either, much less humanism! If you want to have any argument whatsoever against my proposition as a solution, you need to point me to a secular society that adopted the teachings of Lucretius, Newton, Einstein, Paine, Spinoza, Jefferson, Voltaire - and many other enlightened figures of our time - and still fell into war, famine and death. You won't find one. The closest you will get, and they are still not quite there, are the European examples I mentioned above. As for the Holocaust... are you kidding me?

Hitler used a copy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a canard forged by the Russian Orthodox Church, in order to influence people into thinking that Jews were a threat. Hitler was also a Christian (he never officially renounced Christianity) and made a pact with the Vatican whereby the Church could obtain power over marriage, education, and death. And what did the Nazi party get from the clergy in exchange? That's right. Names of Christians related to Jews and Jewish names. And the disbandment of the Christian political party, too (which included the cessation of anti-Nazism propaganda). I could go on. Hitler spoke of having been sent by Providence (once even referring to it as "God" in one of his speeches). Read Mein Kampf, or read about it, and listen to the Nazi party hymns and tell me they are secular. This is an excerpt from Mein Kampf:

"By defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." - Adolf Hitler

Hitler even believed in the effectiveness or Nordic pagan rites and had an affinity for the occult. What a poor example, Snaggle!

Case closed.

[ Post made via Android ]

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

Here is another example of why religion must go:http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4361.htm

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

I think the main one to worry about is Islam - although Jehovah's Witnesses are not far behind: recently, a little boy with a brain tumour was snatched from a hospital without the doctors' consent because the parents will not have him undergo a treatment involving a blood transfusion...

Anyway, Islam is particularly dangerous and the reasons are obvious. Just create a depiction of prophet Muhammad and publicise it. See what happens. If you're an artist, try creating a contemporary piece where the Quran is soaked in swine blood. You can bet that the majority of Muslims worldwide will take to the streets in a murderous rage...

Now, when we see Kurds being persecuted by Islamists in Northern Iraq, and men, women, and children starving to death in those mountains whilst being told to surrender and convert to Islam or die, we must ask: where are the Muslim protesters proclaiming such atrocities to be a misrepresentation of their religion with the same fervour that we saw during the Salman Rushdie affair or the Danish cartoons? Exactly... Religion or religious ideology first, humanity second...

Moderate Muslims are not doing us any favours either. They are either cherry pickers of the Quran and the hadith, or their intentions are truly questionable. In the Quran, martyrdom is upheld and forming a friendship with the infidel is strictly forbidden. And then there is the Islamic doctrine by the name of Taqiyya. This teaches a Muslim that he is allowed to use deception if he believes it will further his religious agenda. This is a permission to lie and goes well with the concept of jihad.

Let's now take a look at what's happening with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Just to be clear from the offset, I do not take any sides. Both sides believe in bullshit. But one cannot help to notice what the Jewish community have had to deal with. How can they trust the Muslims when Taqiyya exists? We cannot blame them for their highly sophisticated dome and their advanced methods to protect their citizens. It has brought them some relief. Prior to this, they lived very much in fear of suicide bombers. At the same time, I don't condone the "collateral damage" that resulted from their retaliation in response to the missiles from Gazza.

Yasser Arafat subcribed to Taqiyya when he was alive and ruled the Palestinians. He would sound peaceful in English when addressing the West, and sound horribly anti-Semitic when addressing his people in Arabic.

Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Palestine, paid Aushwitz a visit during WWII and had Himmler show him around. What was the purpose of his visit? Full cooperation with the Nazi Party and he certainly aspired to have death camps for Jews in Palestine. Roughly 8 years after Yasser Arafat received his Nobel Peace Prize, the leader of the Palestinians had proclaimed al-Husseini, a despicable bete noir, a hero! Today, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion canard is still being spread as some sort of truth or piece of evidence for some Jewish conspiracy in the Arab world.

[ Post made via Android ]

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

When it comes to the issue of blood transfusions in Jehovah's Witnesses, it isn't people being picky or just chieftains subscribing to the blood-curse belief. The majority, if not all, act upon it when they are faced with similar medical dillemas. Just research online. There are tens of thousands of cases out there. My uncle lost two of his kids because his wife refused the the blood transfusion treatment in Africa. I am yet to encounter a truly harmless religion in the world. Religion stunts your mental intelect and works against reason.

[ Post made via Android ]

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."